Australian editor released on bail, faces trial in Burma

New York, March 29, 2011--Ross Dunkley,
founder and editor of the Myanmar Times
weekly newspaper, was released on bail from a Burmese prison today, according
to international
news reports.
Dunkley, an Australian citizen arrested February 10 amid tense negotiations
over the future of the weekly, had been denied several earlier requests for
release on bail.

Dunkley was released on 10 million kyat (US$11,780) bail
because he required treatment for a heart condition, news reports said. He had
been held at Insein Prison's hospital compound.

"We
welcome the court's decision to release Myanmar
Times editor Ross Dunkley on bail," said Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program director.
"CPJ research shows that Burma's
courts are notoriously susceptible to political pressure, and we are highly
suspicious of the motives behind his arrest. We call for a transparent and fair
trial into the charges he faces."

Dunkley
was initially accused of violating the Immigration Act, but authorities later
added charges of assaulting, drugging, and detaining a woman whom press reports
identified as a prostitute. Dunkley has denied all of the charges, the reports
said. Hearings in his case are scheduled to resume on Monday. If
convicted, Dunkley could face up to 15 years in prison.

Australian
media reports have noted the arrest coincided with intense negotiations between
Dunkley and his government-linked Burmese partners about the future of the
publication. The weekly newspaper, which maintains offices in downtown Rangoon,
is published in both Burmese and English. Days after the arrest, his local
partner, Tin Tun Oo, assumed Dunkley's position as chief executive of the
local-foreign joint venture, according to reports.

Dunkley's arrest also comes
amid much speculation about what role local media will be allowed to play in
Burma's transition from military to civilian rule. Top government censor Tint
Swe was recently quoted in the local Flower
News journal saying that the new parliamentary government would relax the
military regime's vast censorship policies, which have included detailed, prior
censorship of all local publications. But local and international news reports say
the media have been barred from covering the new parliament's first sessions,
and there have been no signs the new government plans to release the more than 2,100
political prisoners, including at least 13 journalists, currently behind bars.